Page 54 of House of Darkness (The Fallen Star #1)

“I mean that I know you are protecting the traitors and have executed a number of humans. Turn them over to me and step down as Count of the Javali House, and you can keep your head.”

Edward chuckled, the dark sound reverberating through the room and making my hackles rise. “Is that why she’s here, to help remove my head?”

“I’d love nothing more,” Catina growled.

“Even after I taught you how to remove heads? Such a shame, Cat darling. Why taint such fond memories?” Edward flashed a grin, his fangs extended.

The Javali fangs had always made me uneasy.

They were far too thick—designed to kill their prey.

He finally turned his attention to me. “Mihal has promised true freedom, Your Highness. Freedom to hunt as nature intended. To rule over humans as we should, rather than caging ourselves to make morsels feel more at home.”

“A primitive, disgusting way of thinking that will not be accepted,” I replied coldly.

His vicious eyes scanned me clinically. He set down his glass and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the gaudy table. “I heard your little toy was stolen. Interesting that the acolyte you took from me was taken from you. One could say it was fate.”

Blackness seeped through my joints like a hot, bubbling toxin waiting to be spewed.

My nails dug into the table, denting the metal.

He was looking for any weakness to exploit and provoke us into lashing out.

I needed to rise above it, but it was a challenge when all I could think about was taking him to the fucking dirt.

“A mistake on Codran’s part that will result in his disembowelment,” I hissed.

Edward chuckled again. “Of course. Theft should not be tolerated. Makes me think I should challenge you for the morsel since you took her from me. Might have to, knowing what I know now.”

Though my wings were already out, I began to shift fully, coils of black spreading over my flesh and my vision darkening to shades of red. By some miracle, I didn’t destroy the room. “Watch your fucking tone.”

Edward’s fangs flashed like lights in the darkness. “That’s why you really want Codran, right? Because he got his claws into her. Got some other things—”

My snarl cut through the darkness like a knife. I didn’t know how, but I was standing, wings spread wide, ready to spring. Edward barked a laugh. He leaned back and finished off his glass, passing it to Luis for a refill. “At least we’re on the same page now, Your Highness.”

He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “How about this: You wanted your girl, and I want mine. Give me Catina, and I’ll give you the traitors. But I keep my position. Fair is fair, and you should understand wanting what was taken from you.”

I wanted to leap across the table and tear out his throat, but I didn’t need to. Catina had already sprung to her feet. “I am not anyone’s to be given away, you fucking pig.”

Edward grimaced. “I loved you, Catina, which is more than you deserve. Come home and stop this bloodshed.”

Catina laughed, her head falling back until her cropped brown hair tumbled around her shoulders.

“Loved me? You made my life a living hell! Forced me to relive what that monster did to me, night after night in those entertainment rings, while other girls were raped and killed. Forced me to torture people to earn my keep!”

Now he stood, hand reaching for the rapier at his hip.

His eyes had gone completely black as he threatened to shift.

Yet when he spoke, his voice was deadly calm, making every muscle in my body tense.

“I saved your miserable life when I found you in the street. I taught you the workings of my house—my people—and you threw it all back in my face. Yet here I am, offering to throw it all away for you. If that isn’t love, Cat darling, then what is? ”

Catina’s eyes glistened. She shook her head. “You don’t know what love is, Eddie. You are incapable of such a thing.”

His snarl tore through the air as he shifted.

Spikes erupted from his back, shredding his decorated jacket.

His lieutenants stood ready beside him, preparing for what was to come.

It was as though time frozen, the world holding its breath in anticipation.

Then Edward spoke, his voice rough and cold.

“Then kill me, Cat, because I will not yield.”

The world sped back up, and my mind didn’t have time to process what was happening.

I had to rely on instinct as Edward and his two lieutenants leaped over the table at Catina and me.

My mind blanked, my predatory drive taking over in place of rational thought as Xavier plowed into me, throwing me back several paces.

The Javali were fighters, and I barely managed to stay standing as Emiliano rushed to Xavier’s side, battering me toward the back wall.

Catina and Edward circled each other. His rapier was unsheathed, poised at his side, while she gripped her daggers, waiting for the lunge of a beast. That cold mask had slipped from Edward’s face, leaving only the darkness and evil within.

“All this bloodshed for that general, Cat? After all I’ve done for you?” he snarled.

“You know nothing,” she hissed.

A sudden kiss of pain blossomed across my cheek, drawing my attention back to my attackers.

Xavier had raked his talons down my face, cutting through flesh and spraying blood.

I hurled myself into him, crashing into the table where we had just been seated, its legs collapsing with a loud crunch.

I managed one good punch to his face before he reeled backward and got to his feet.

I scrambled up after him, only to find Javali members encircling me.

The house had flooded with a sea of sun-kissed skin and weathered faces, all ready for the kill.

Desperately, I searched the room for Catina, finding her locked in a bloody brawl with Edward, their blades slicing both vampires to ribbons.

Her eyes still blazed with hatred and fire, but she was covered in cuts and was losing blood.

Panic crept in. We needed to escape before we were overwhelmed.

I looked back at the horde of vampires advancing on us, unsheathing my karambits as I unleashed darkness upon them all.